Fang's Bites

Doing The Sunday Links

Well, my day has been planned for me, but I don’t want to leave you without links so I got up early to provide some until I return home sometime after 6 tonight.

Without further ado, here are the links.

Tom Van Riper at Forbes cautions fans who are caught up in the Pac 10/12 media hype.

John Walters at Fanhouse says the Pac 10/12 has many obstacles to overcome including its TV contracts.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell writes that fans are feeling their NFL game tickets are worth more this year than last.

Darren explains why IMG’s purchase of college sports syndicator ISP is good for the game.

Mike Reynolds of Multichannel News writes that Outdoor Channel gets picked up by Comcast in Houston.

Jesse Quinlan of the Stamford (CT) Advocate talks with ESPN’s Steve Young. 

Richard Sandomir of the New York Times reports that there will be no disciplinary action against ESPN writer Arash Markazi on his story about LeBron James’ Boys Night Out in Las Vegas that was eventually spiked.

Phil “Dr. Doom and Gloom” Mushnick of the New York Post now goes after NFL Commish Roger Goodell on last week’s Town Meeting in Green Bay. In Mushnick’s World, nothing is ever good enough for him.

Greg Connors of the Buffalo News notes that the Bills fans can follow their team through Twitter.

The Washington Post’s Dan Steinberg in the DC Sports Bog notes that two local TV reporters attempted the same physical conditioning test that Albert Haynesworth failed twice for the DC NFL team. 

Jim Williams of the Washington Examiner writes that the DC NFL team will be well covered by the local media during the preseason.

David Walsh of the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch talks with the Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner about his familiarity of The Greenbrier Resort, site of this weekend’s PGA Tour stop. 

Walsh adds that the TV exposure thanks to Golf Channel and CBS to The Greenbrier Resort is good for the local area.

The Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard says ESPN spiked the LeBron James story for the right reasons.  Don’t forget LeBatard appears regularly on ESPN either on Pardon The Interruption or the Sports Reporters.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News has a quick blurb on why Mavericks owner Mark Cuban would be interested in buying the Texas Rangers.

Barry talks with Fox Sports’ Daryl Johnston about picking up a new gig with NFL Network.

Mike Heika of the Morning News reports that News Corp., parent company of Fox Sports and Fox Sports Net, is a bidder for the NHL’s Stars. 

MLB Network’s Trenni Kusnierek (and a Friend of Fang’s Bites) suggests we take a break from Facebook and Twitter every once in a while.

Melissa Harris of the Chicago Tribune notes that despite having a championship season, record breaking attendance and TV ratings, the Blackhawks still lost money. 

Joe Flint of the Los Angeles Times says Dish Network is taking shots at Comcast for keeping SportsNet Philadelphia off the satellite provider.

Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News loves a new website which alerts you to big things happening on TV.

Tom has more about the website in his blog.

Chris Zelkovich of the Toronto Star says the Blue Jays may be out of the pennant race, but continue to do well in the ratings. 

Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun talks with Stacey Bieber who is one of the golfers taking part in this season’s Big Break Sandals Resort on Golf Channel.

Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

SMW has some ratings news and notes.

And SMW notes comments from ESPN’s John Skipper that I picked up in the Friday megalinks and bear watching that he feels ESPNews and ESPN Classic are not performing to par and could have an announcement on the two channels in the coming months.

Sox & Dawgs has the video of the Red Sox epic comeback against the Detroit Tigers yesterday.

And that will do it. Enjoy your Sunday.

The Day Is Shot For Me Links

Having had to take Dad to the eye doctor then being told that I can’t go to the Massachusetts office because he’s taking a client to lunch is really killing me. Not having a car is killing me. Not having my own schedule is killing me. And after today, the blogging schedule will be light over the next few days due to end of the month/beginning of the month stuff will kill me as well. Not a happy day. And if I get that spam from someone telling me to move to New Mexico, that person will be getting my wrath.

So having said that, it’s time to do some linkage while I can.

In a big move, Michael Smith of Sports Business Daily reports that IMG College is purchasing ISP Sports which means a shift in the multimedia rights of 60 colleges and universities.

USA Today’s Michael Hiestand says Big Ten Network is going to use archival footage, some never aired before, to produce a new 13 week series.

Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk writes that Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer and Daryl Johnston will be joining NFL Network as analysts, but will also remain at Fox in their current capacities. 

Media analyst Larry Gerbrandt writes in the Hollywood Reporter that professionals and manufacturers want to push 3-D TV as fast as they can.

Lacey Rose of Forbes speaks with Sony Pictures Television head Andy Kaplan who’s bullish on 3-D.

Dennis Waszak, Jr. of the Associated Press says the NFL’s New York Jets are ready to be in the spotlight this summer thanks to HBO’s Hard Knocks. 

CNBC’s Darren Rovell explores Tim Tebow’s new endorsement deal with Jockey undergarments.

Lisa Backus of the New Britain (CT) Herald reports an unsealed arrest warrant provides new details on the charges against former ESPN analyst Jeremy Green, son of former NFL coach Dennis Green. Jeremy was arrested earlier this month in a motel near the ESPN headquarters on child pornography charges.

Pete Dougherty in the Albany Times Union tries to piece together the NFL regular season TV schedule for the Capital Region.

Jenny Vrentas of the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger explores how HBO lured the Jets to take part in Hard Knocks.

In the New Jersey Newsroom, Evan Weiner writes that an East Coast media trip by Pac 10/12 football coaches is in reality, a ploy to increase TV rights fees for the conference.

In the Washington Examiner, Jim Williams looks at the stronger TV ratings for the Nationals.

The Washington Post’s Reliable Source blog looks at Erin Andrews going to Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby for strong anti-stalking legislation.

Carol Vaughn of the Eastern Shore (VA) News writes that ESPN will be on Tangier Island to shoot an ad for ESPN3.com.

Dave Nicholson of the Tampa (FL) Tribune writes about a local girl who was featured on ESPN’s E:60 for her feat of throwing two perfect games in Little League.

In the St. Petersburg Times, Tom Jones says Sun Sports’ Dwayne Staats did not mention Matt Garza’s no-hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays until the final out.

Jeff Mosier of the Dallas Morning News cites an ESPN Outside the Lines report that mentioned the number of food safety violations at Cowboys Stadium.

An aside here. I saw that report on ESPN before heading out Sunday morning and it was an eyeopener. Very solid journalism from ESPN and Paula Lavigne. The story is still having an impact three days after it aired.

Brent Zwerneman of the Houston Chronicle says Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe can only look forward after a tumultuous summer that almost led to the disbanding of the conference.  

Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says the Brewers’ TV ratings are down this year compared to the same period a year ago.

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times writes that a miscommunication between FSN Northwest and higher ups prevented the network from airing a confrontation in the Mariners dugout Saturday during a game against the Red Sox that NESN and Japanese network NHK had no problem in showing to viewers.

Bruce Dowbiggin at the Toronto Globe and Mail says the noose may be tightening on cyclist Lance Armstrong over steroids.

More coming up. I’ll post these now.

Tuesday Night Linkage

Now that I’ve had some sashimi for dinner and totally satisfied, it’s time for me to give you some linkage this Tuesday night.

Be prepared for an NSFW link, but that comes at the end of the post. Let’s do some regular sports media linkage now.

The Sports Media Watch has the final weekend ratings. And the Sports Media Watch has a look inside the ratings for three events from the weekend.

Awful Announcing says Turner Sports plans to pay tribute to the late Skip Caray on TNT, TBS and Peachtree TV over the next seven days.

John Donovan of Sports Illustrated pays tribute to Skip.

Ken McMillan of the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record says while New York Football Giants voice Bob Papa is in Communist China calling Olympic boxing for NBC, Nets voice Chris Carrino will pinch hit in his place.

Eric Fisher and Tripp Mickle of the Sports Business Daily/Sports Business Journal write that NBC expects that cycling, equestrian and wrestling to perform well in the online portion of its Olympics coverage.

Diego Vasquez of Media Life Magazine talks with a programming expert on NBC’s chances to win the ratings with the Olympics. Toni Fitzgerald of Media Life writes that global ad spending on the Games is up compared with four years ago.

Jeff Lee of the Canwest News Service says CBC’s Olympic feeds won’t be made available to Canada’s Olympic House as the Communist Chinese goverment has pulled the plug.

Access Hollywood Executive Producer Rob Silverstein is blogging about his visit to the Olympics in Communist China for TV Week.

Jonathan Zimmerman writing an Op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests Americans boycott watching the Olympics.

The Kansas City Star’s Jeffrey Flanagan says the NFL Hall of Fame Game outrated the Royals on Sunday.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Tigers are heating up the ratings for FSN despite the team’s struggles.

Larry Barrett of Multichannel News says the Mets have hit a ratings home run for SNY. Larry writes that Monday night’s loss to Texas was the highest rated Yankees game of the year on YES.

Ian R. Rapoport of the Birmingham (AL) News reports ESPN’s College Gameday show will be live in Atlanta, site of the Alabama-Clemson game on August 30.

Seth Emerson of The State says FSN South has reached an agreement with ISP Sports to show University of South Carolina sports on SportSouth.

ESPN Regional Television has announced the field for the 2008 Anaheim Classic, a Thanksgiving holiday college basketball tournament.

Ira Teinowitz of TV Week writes that more than 100 college coaches are urging the NCAA to ban alcohol advertisting during college sports broadcasts.

W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Journal reports that Fox Sports Radio launches a new fantasy football show featuring a former San Antonio sports radio program director as host.

DirecTV will offer four dedicated channels to the PGA Championship starting this Thursday.

Jeff Richgels of the Capital (WI) Times says ESPN will air the World Series of Poker Europe for the first time this year.

And now your NSFW link. The US TV networks have rejected an ad for Calvin Klein’s Secret Obsession fragrance because it’s too racy. Any time I can link to an ad with a nekkid Eva Mendes, I’m going to take that opportunity. Click on “experience the uncensored tv commercial” and you’ll be all set.

That is all.

Your Saturday Linkage

Before I begin, it’s nice to have some live sports this morning. While watching match play golf isn’t the most appealing thing in the world, it’s assuring to wake up and have the WGC Match Play Championships on the Golf Channel. I’m certainly enjoying having his on my TV this morning instead of the silly infomercials that dot the cable TV landscape. And NESN has live coverage of Red Sox Spring Training as well. Seeing the Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin in the morning is very appealing also. And if I really wanted a stretch, I could turn to Fox Soccer Channel to get a glimpse the English Premier League. If the networks could somehow convince MLB or some college conference to have one early morning game a week, I would be a happy man.

To your links.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dan Caesar says a feud is brewing between Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa and a sports radio talk show host.

Jerry Garcia in the San Antonio Express-News talks about HBO’s documentary on Joe Louis which premieres tonight.

Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News says the Joe Louis doc is truly must-see TV. Horn also talks with the very opinionated sports anchor Dale Hansen of WFAA-TV who doesn’t spare any barbs for ESPN’s Stuart Scott and Chris Berman.

Completing the Texas trifecta, Ray Buck of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says HBO’s documentary on Joe Louis kicks off a big night of boxing tonight.

Guy Limbeck of the Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin says a local sportscaster will be involved in a marathon day of callling hockey.

Scott Wright of the Daily Oklahoman says ESPN will follow the Oklahoma basketball team leading up to the NCAA Selection Sunday for the men’s basketball tournament.

Mike Boone of the Montreal Gazette writes TSN is going to have marathon coverage of the NHL Trading Deadline on Tuesday.

The Arizona Daily Star has a Match Play Championships notebook and included is a blurb on NBC Sports golf producer Tommy Roy who scouted camera and tower positions for the tournament.

The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal reports that ISP Sports has signed a long term agreement with Notre Dame to produce its football games on radio. ISP replaces Westwood One which had carried Notre Dame football dating back to 1968.

Chip Malafronte of the New Haven (CT) Register writes about Chris Kotsopoulos, a former Hartford Whaler, who’s doing TV work for Quinnipiac College hockey games.

Michael C. Lewis of the Salt Lake Tribune says the journey for the mtn. to get on DirecTV was a long, uphill climb. Sean Duff of the Daily Coloradoan says Colorado State University is happy to have its games on a national platform.

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Scouting Combine on the NFL Network is hardly compelling TV.

The Sports Media Watch has its weekend ratings predictions.

The Eye on Sports Media blog has the winners of US Basketball Writers Association Best Writing Contest for 2007.

The 38 Cliches blog wonders if a story on Glenn Geffner in the Miami Herald was spiked.

That’s going to do it today.